Real Estate Trends

Profitable Neighbors

It's not uncommon for co-op and condo buildings to lease that empty space on their ground floor to commercial tenants - usually restaurants, retail stores, or small professional offices. While commercial tenants' rent can add to a building's revenue, issues with noise, traffic, and the 80/20 rule can sometimes make the relationship complicated. Read More

Cover Story: Real Estate Indictments: 1999

After Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau handed down indictments against dozens of New York property managers in 1994 for taking kickbacks from contractors, New Yorkers, including the D.A.'s office, thought there would be at least a brief reprieve from local real estate corruption. Even so, the D.A.'s office continued to monitor the real estate industry. "This is Round One,"� predicted Dan Castleman, chief of the D.A.'s Investigative Division. This past June, Round Two was unveiled. Read More

The Elderly Population is Booming

How to Handle a Demand for Special Services

The Expanding Skyline

The breakneck pace and cutthroat economics of residential real estate in New York City are legendary. For every new building that goes up, it seems like there's a battle to be fought, either with city agencies, community groups, preservation and historical societies, and anyone else with an opinion; which is to say, everyone else in the city. Read More

No Longer a Man's Castle

In the past several years, the real estate market has seen an increase in the number of women purchasing homes. Some of these women are first-time homebuyers entering the market on their own, while others are moving up or downsizing from a property they already own. The State of the Nations Housing: 2004 report, compiled by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, found that “social and economic trends have given women a more powerful presence in housing markets. Between 1980 and 2000, the number of households headed by unmarried women increased by almost 10 million.” Read More

Divine Profits

It’s no secret—in fact, it’s been a problem for years: residential developers in Manhattan and other hot areas like Downtown Brooklyn are running out of space. Read More

Working the Door

Forget Barbie dolls and dress up clothes—when Janet Leon was a little girl, she probably would’ve preferred to have a mini tool belt and set of screwdrivers. Growing up, she says she fondly remembers shadowing her father, a machinist, around the garage, pointing out his to-do list and helping him tinker with engines and fix-it projects. She eagerly soaked up knowledge of tools, maintenance, machinery and whatever else her dad wanted to teach her. Read More

The Sale of the Century

Stretching from 14th to 20th Streets between First Avenue and Avenue C on Manhattan’s East Side, the 110-building Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town high-rise complexes comprised a vast middle-class, largely rent-regulated city-within-the-city. In both communities, renters who wanted to stay in Manhattan could live a safe, secure life within a development containing modern elevator buildings, its own security force, and 80 acres of lawn and playground space. Read More

New Life for Old Technology

Where would we be without our personal computers? From news to e-mail to online shopping and financial management, they’ve brought so much convenience to our lives. Along with their associate devices such as printers and monitors, PCs have revolutionized how many of us do our work and run our lives. Read More

On Your Side

Imagine the panic that sets in when a home is lost or damaged. Now imagine navigating through that fear alone. Whether it’s fire or flooding or the violent effects of a storm, anything that damages or destroys a home will have a lasting and dramatic effect on the people who lived and worked in that space. Read More

Superbroker

In New York, buying and selling real estate is almost a contact sport. The hours are long, the stakes high, the customers savvy and demanding. In a city of eight million people, there are thousands of real estate brokers, but only an elite handful who successfully operate in the stratosphere, brokering multimillion-dollar deals, managing rosters of super-rich clients, and handling some of the most breathtaking residential properties on the planet with aplomb. Read More

Real Estate Royalty

If Manhattan is the black-Amex-carrying Wall Streeter of the New York City real estate scene and Brooklyn is the too-hip-to-care rock star, then Queens is the hardworking third sibling, eschewing the spotlight while slowly-but-surely amassing both a fortune and a loyal following. For years now, Brooklyn and Manhattan have dominated the New York co-op and condo market, but now the borough to the east is making waves, building its own housing momentum and creating an appealing alternative for those in search of an affordable, safe and welcoming place to call home. Read More

Buyer's (and Seller's) Best Friend

Ever try to sell — or buy — an apartment in Manhattan without using a real estate broker? It’s sort of like that joke about lawyers who try to defend themselves: They have a fool for a client. Read More

EXPOnential Growth

It’s March, and along with springtime comes The Cooperator’s Annual Co-op & Condo Expo at the New York Hilton. This year marks the Expo’s19th outing and once again, the exhibition floors will be abuzz with a full day of information, seminars, vendors, networking, and giveaways. Read More

New York City's Real Estate Brokers

When Harris Scher was listening to his instructors in class last year, he took a good look at the jam-packed room filled with 300 students who had the same aspirations as he had — to have a successful career as a licensed real estate salesperson. He speculated about his chances. Scher was about to become one in an already congested field of more than 27,000 brokers and real estate agents operating in Manhattan — according to New York State records — competing for only about 10,000 real estate transactions per year (not including co-op sales). Read More

Sky High

New York City — especially Manhattan — may seem to have little room left on which to build, but when it comes to finding space for new residential construction, there’s always something new around the corner. While the occasional co-op building does still get built from scratch in the city, the vast majority of conversions and new construction are intended as condos, says Tim Norton of Cantor Pecorella, a marketing firm that represents many developers and their projects. Read More

The State of the Market

By now, the New York City real estate market has become nearly legendary. Always one of the top three costliest American cities in which to live, the Big Apple also gives Tokyo, London, and other notoriously expensive cities a run for their money as far as rents and apartment purchase prices are concerned. Read More

What Can Technology Do for You?

If you want to be a doctor, you go to medical school -- if you want to be a lawyer, you go to law school. But what if you want to be a property manager? Do you go to property management school? Read More

Brooklyn on the Rise

Brooklyn on the Rise Read More

Expo-Rific

On Wednesday, March 16th, Read More

Ten Sides to Every Story

The far west side of Manhattan has been a flurry of activity and speculation in the last couple of years thanks to the debate over the development of the Hudson Rail Yards and a new stadium for the New York Jets. Read More

The Cooperator's 18th Annual Co-op & Condo Expo

Circle March 16th on your calendars so you don't miss The Cooperator's 18th Annual Co-op & Condo Expo, which will once again pack a full day of information, seminars, vendors, networking, and giveaways into two floors of the New York Hilton at 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas. Read More

Are You In?

Tranquil gated communities in quiet suburban condo developments are probably not the first things that spring to mind when you think about New York City and its outlying boroughs. The city is known for brownstones, high-rises, and skyscrapers but there are indeed gated communities, some of which are more than 100 years old. Read More

Above and Beyond

In New York City, you can have just about anything delivered to your door at any hour of the day or night. Food, furniture, entertainment; you name it, you pay for it, and you got it. This is a city where convenience and efficiency are valued almost as much as square footage and lush views of Central Park. And with the average price of a new one-bedroom reaching $1 million, it should come as no surprise that co-op or condo buyers are beginning to expect something more than just a nice address and shiny new appliances when they move into their new digs. Read More

Man's Best Friend

Whether dog people or cat people, New Yorkers love their pets - nearly a quarter of the city's inhabitants own companion animals. Read More

The Cooperator's

Record crowds turned out for Read More

Power Brokerages

1. Prudential Douglas Elliman (acquired Douglas Elliman) Read More

The Comfort of Concierge Services

Whether you're moving to Manhattan from another state or country, or just moving to another apartment in a new neighborhood or borough, finding the right schools, churches, dentists, doctors, plumbers, electricians or other service professionals can be a frustrating experience at best, especially for a newcomer. Read More

The Cooperator's 17th Annual Expo

It's that time again - time to mark the date of The Cooperator's Annual Co-op and Condo Expo on your calendar, get registered, and prepare for a full day of information, networking, new products, engaging seminars, and (of course) freebies on Thursday, March 18th at the New York Hilton on 53rd Street and Avenue of the Americas. Read More

Real Estate Market Review

Amid fears about the sagging economy and war in the Middle East, the New York real estate market started slowly at the beginning of 2003. But in true New York fashion, the market rebounded nicely and by the summer months was thriving. By year's end, Manhattan property was hotter than ever. Read More

On the Drawing Board

A new wave of condominium and co-op construction is sweeping Manhattan as dozens of new projects attest, with thousands of new co-op and condominium units being marketed to hungry buyers. Read More

So What's New in New York?

If you've noticed a lot of new scaffolding and safety netting going up throughout the city, you may be onto something. 2003 and 2004 are setting up to be substantial years for new residential development. Read More

A Year of Mega-Mergers

The last couple of years have been big ones for the residential real estate industry here in the city; not just in terms of square feet moved and dollars made, but in terms of mergers and acquisitions among some of New York's biggest, most prominent brokerage firms. More than half a dozen brokerages joined forces with other companies in 2003, absorbing or acquiring other businesses like a slow-moving flood. Read More

New Development on the Horizon

Braving the Elements

On March 6th, Read More